In the current video cameras an iris diaphragm in the optical system is used for adapting the light intensity of the image formed on the entry window, which diaphragm is controlled by means of a control system responsive to the light intensity in such a manner that a substantially constant average light intensity is maintained.
Such a camera has several draw-backs. A first draw-back is that the mechanical control of the diaphragm has a given inertia, so that a lag in the light intensity control arises, which, particularly in the case of fast light changes, e.g. with a fast camera movement from light to dark and vice versa, will lead an objectionable image transition. A second draw-back is that such a control acts on the whole image, so that in the case of large light contrasts and depending on the manner of intensity measurement, some image regions will be over- or underexposed, with, as a consequence, reproduction losses in the image parts of these regions.
Although, for the first draw-back, possibly a solution might be found by increasing the speed of the diaphragm drive, there is no solution for the second objection in the case of a diaphragm-type light control.